Communicating messages over a wireless link that has severe bandwidth degradation can be difficult. While some messages can wait until the degraded conditions subside, other messages are desirably communicated as soon as possible. One such message is a control message for an unmanned vehicle. The control message may be a command for a particular movement of the unmanned vehicle, or a command for action by a payload device on the unmanned vehicle. In any case, there will be many situations in which it is desirable for the control message to be communicated to the unmanned vehicle in a timely manner, so that the desired action can be performed at the desired time.
Sometimes, performing a desired action with an unmanned vehicle requires a series of control messages to be sent. Each control message in the series commands the unmanned vehicle to perform a small portion of the overall action. The combined effect of all the small portions is the overall action that is desired. Unfortunately, if a wireless link to the unmanned vehicle is severely degraded, one or more of the command messages in the sequence may not be properly received by the unmanned vehicle in a timely manner. This can result in the unmanned vehicle receiving incomplete instructions and, potentially, taking improper action or no action as a result.
Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) utilizing the communication standard STANAG 4586 are one type of unmanned vehicle in which a series of control messages are commonly sent to effectuate an overall action. STANAG 4586 allows multiple UAVs to interoperate with a single UAV control system (UCS). Because of the interoperability advantages of STANAG 4586, many current and future UAVs are/will be compatible with the standard. The wireless links used with STANAG 4586, however, can suffer from severe bandwidth degradation in certain environments due to weather, geography, and/or enemy jamming. Because of this, there is a need to improve the robustness and reliability of control messages for UAVs using the STANAG 4568 standard.